Reference #17

Bio
Aaron North | b. 1987 | is an American artist who grew up in Texas and Colorado. His artistic beginnings were in street art and screen printing, which progressed into his present day material. North’s interests and influences range from the Flemish Renaissance and Surrealist Movement to the non-visual works of Philip Glass and Haruki Murakami. He and his fiancé currently reside in Providence, RI.

Aaron's work represents a heavy mix of memories, daily thoughts, and conscious dreams and focuses on abstract, yet relatable subject matter.

To Aaron, surrealism has always made logical sense because of the unexpected circumstances. He doesn't wish to fully understand someone else’s work, rather he wants to walk away with all of his questions unanswered. The images in his work are typically uncommon, but recognizable, and they interact together to create a well of imagery for people to identify themselves in.

With a background in street art, Aaron became accustomed to the urgency and immediate satisfaction of completing a piece of work. Transitioning to canvas and paper allows him to quickly join ideas together, but also enables him to continue to ponder and distort them without time constraints. When working, he relies on an automatic thinking process to execute new ideas with a similar sense of immediacy.

Aaron expresses an action with a figure or object, and each additional element connected to it contributes to a central idea. His process involves depicting a familiar form and reconstructing that form into something new and foreign to him. Rather than predetermining the subject matter for a particular piece, he utilizes a more organic process based on aesthetic value. The objects in his work are very positive or very harsh and sometimes appear for no particular reason. He empathizes with the images that he creates, and sees himself alongside them.